Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.
Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.
Today we begin our Sunday journey through the season of Lent. Each week we’ll be taking a close look at the principal parts of the Lord’s Prayer. Our focus this morning is on Jesus’ opening lines and what they might mean for us in all of our emotional wanderings and spiritual wonderings.
It’s always good, I think, to start with God, so let’s take a look at the title that Jesus uses in his prayer—Father. What an incredible gift Jesus gives to us by using this common, concrete, comforting characteristic for the God of all creation! It’s an image that speaks volumes to us about the kind of relationship that God in heaven craves to have with us in life.
And though Jesus uses the masculine designation for a parent, God’s identity is so much more than that. But let’s start there. What are some traditional qualities that are attached to the human title Father?
– Protector
– Provider
– Punisher
– Person in charge
Now, what are some traditional qualities that are attached to the human title Mother?
– Creator
– Consoler
– Care-giver
– Comforter
Creator and Comforter, Protector and Person in charge—I think we’d all agree that God encompasses all these qualities and so much more! So let’s take a minute and share some favorite images of what a father IS and SHOULD BE:
– Roberto Begnini in his movie Life Is Beautiful
– Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s play Les Miserables
– Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird
What are some favorite images of what a mother IS and SHOULD BE:
– Meryl Streep in the movie Sophie’s Choice
– Grandma Moses in Stephen King’s book, The Stand
– Fantine in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables
The blessing here is that Jesus invites us to set our imaginations free and dare to approach God as if this perfect parent—father and mother—is eager to be in relationship with the likes of you…and me!
This is pretty radical stuff. In the cultures and religions of the day, the only people who dared claim such a privilege, also claimed that they were somehow actually descended directly from God. Yet, Jesus gives this name to us, places it in our hearts, and encourages us to make good use of it.
We are meant, says Luther,
– to trust that we are truly God’s children, and
– to pray boldly and with complete confidence, just as loving children ask (for help) from their loving father (and mother!).
Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.
Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.
Holy… The definition of holy—having a spiritually pure quality, inspiring awe, and honor, etc.
Says Luther about this petition: God’s name is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that it may also become holy in and among us… Now I find that to be an interesting choice of words: we ask…that (God’s name) may also become holy in and among us… Here’s what I’m thinking—to pray that something may become…is to acknowledge that it is not yet.
So let’s check this out. How is God’s name used “in and among us” today? And by that I don’t mean in worship—how is it used in our day-to-day experience of life?
– OMG! – God “damning” this or that – oaths
In fact, the way that God’s name is used in society, reflects everything but a spiritually pure quality, inspires anything but honor and awe. And I don’t think that you or I, alone or together, can do anything about it.
So, if we can’t change the practice of the culture around us, what can you and I do so that God’s name may become holy in and among US?
– worship – pray – serve – read the Bible – give of our time and treasures
It’s not rocket science, is it? God calls us to live as if God’s name means something to us, and to the way we live our lives.
Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.
Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.
Now it’s time to go back to the beginning to wrap up this discussion. In a strange and significant sense, I think it could be argued that the most important word in these two short phrases…is the very first word: OUR. It takes us back to the start of the prayer, back to the beginning of Jesus’ story; all the way back, even to the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.
Where before our sinful rebellion, we had been blessed with an
unfiltered, unfaltering, unfailing, familial relationship with God,
after that we have all been, and always will be, wandering in a wilderness:
– sometimes hiding from God,
– sometimes lost in despair and life’s distractions,
– sometimes chasing after other gods like so many mirages dancing in the air.
But by using that little word, our, Jesus invites us
– to come home to God,
– to let ourselves be surrounded by the Spirit’s presence,
– to throw ourselves into the open arms of the One who loves us absolutely, unconditionally, continually.
This little word our heals the wound, bridges the gap, and breaks down the barrier that has stood for so long between us and God. In effect, Jesus names us sister and brother, one with The One, so that what God says in the Gospel about Jesus also applies to us—You are my son; you are my daughter, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.
This is an incredible Word of good news. With our brother Jesus, with our sisters and brothers all across the planet and throughout all time, we dare to approach Almighty God in heaven:
– as our Father/Mother who loves us dearly;
– as our parent who protects and provides;
– as our God whose name is holy and who desires nothing more than that we allow God’s name to be holy in the way we live our lives. Let that be our prayer for today—and every day:
Our Father in heaven, holy is your name.
Amen.
Pastor Scott Fuller